Home Speaking Organize Your Company Organizing Yourself Books & Products Press About Julie Contact Us
Home // Blog Home // Is Clutter Just Junk? 3 Common Myths

This week on CBS Sunday Morning, I had the privilege of working alongside organizer Fern Silvernagle to help contributor Nancy Giles, have an “aha moment” in taming the chaos in her house.  As she confronted the mountains of clutter that had overtaken her hallway closet, she observed that “organizing is a process…it’s a lot like therapy.”  It was fun to work with Fern, a protégé of my inside out method, who believes in helping people find their own motivation for clearing out the chaos.


I’ve always been viewed as more of a clutter whisperer, than a clutter buster.  I don’t advocate the “tough love” approaches  that make for entertaining TV—or that people hear from genuinely well meaning friends, family, and even from inside their own heads: “Don’t think, don’t hesitate, get rid of that junk!  Come on….it’s time to move on! What good is that stuff doing you?!  Throw it all away!”   ........

Posted in
Comments
Comment posted on 05/19/2009 at 03:09 pm
I gotta sort things out to separate treasure from waste. In the past weekend, I sorted through my personal belongings. I found many lipsticks which were my favorite colors at one point with only little left. I sliced them off with a piece of tooth floss into 7 days pill box. This way, I can carry many of my favorite colors in my purse & it reminds myself to put on my favorite colors wherever I go. Of course, the containers go into recycle bin & I've freed up space. There's treasure in clutter. We just gotta find it. Once we do, we can recycle & reuse it till it is completely rid of. It saves money, time to shop again & maxes out our enjoyment.

Comment posted on 05/20/2009 at 06:57 pm
I've been pressured by others, and I've pressured myself to get rid of clutter, and it has never worked. However, following the SHED steps hasn't worked that well for me, either. I have incredible attachments to stuff. I may be a hopeless case.

Comment posted on 05/21/2009 at 12:07 am
Never hopeless. Did you take the SHED profile? (under the Learning Tools Tab?) That diagnostic can be very helpful in indicating which steps in the SHED process will come easily and which will be more challenging. And what to do to overcome the more challenging parts. In my experience, people can also get stuck if they started with a Point of Entry that was too big to begin with---or perhaps you did not articulate your Theme before you began. Let me know what steps you've tried with the SHED process---and where you got stuck.

Comment posted on 07/14/2009 at 01:00 am
I've definitely been pressured by others. But most of the pressure comes from within. I am just starting to read "Shed" and am hoping it will shed (hee hee) some light on the deeper issues going in. I appreciate your ideas because they seem to go much deeper than most "clutter buster" self-help books. Looking forward ...

Comment posted on 11/22/2009 at 01:13 pm
Iv definately been pressured by others to get rid of stuff. I have a lot of books, craft projects and so on, a lot of stuff, however, the person wants me to dump everything. Now Im getting to know about the SHED method its going to help a lot.

Comment posted on 02/22/2010 at 12:37 pm
I've had the SHED book for about three years, and it's just now coming together for me. There are so many areas I want to work on that my biggest obstacle is the jumping-around syndrome. Is there a vaccine?

Comment posted on 02/26/2010 at 11:38 am
It's my desk. As a germaphobe and a serious cook (food writer and blogger, delightfulrepast.blogspot.com),my kitchen is super-organized. The rest of the house is fine. But my home office, particularly my desk, seems to be a hopeless case! I can't seem to get out from under the piles of paper, magazines and MORE paper! I have visions of a paperless office.

Comment posted on 03/13/2010 at 08:58 pm
what do you do when your whole house is chaos, have a son that won't help you are alone except for him and have a ton of emotional/financial issues to deal with...i work with therapists but they don't come close to "getting it " and I am overwhelmed and afraid. Thank you. tdserene

Comment posted on 08/18/2010 at 10:53 am
I'm one who gets sick thinking about throwing things away, but they're just too many things taking up what little space we have. I get to a point and then can't finish the clean and things get everywhere again

Comment posted on 10/02/2010 at 10:20 am
I actually finally stopped. Looked around and got sick to my stomach. That is when I started to look within myself. I have fallen out of the sorting box several times and when I do, it pushes me that much farther to keep going and get it done.

Comment posted on 10/02/2010 at 04:27 pm
Wow! "Gaining insight into a struggle you are trying to release"! I am going to use this with my health coaching clients when they clean out their pantries of white flour, sugar, junk food. What is the emotional attachment to this food? What is the cost to their health? Thanks Julie, as always-MJ McConnell, Holistic Health Coach

Post a comment
Comment

Search
Archives